Stalk-cutting attachment for plows.



ENI Foa PIows.

RENEWED FEB. 16.1918.

Patented Apr. 2, 1918,

EFIKI. LMouNTJoY E. L. MOUNTJOY. STALK CUTTING ATTACHII'I y APPLICATION FILED MAR. I0, I9II. 152611 I.

EARL'L. MOUNTJOY', OF TABOR, ILLINOIS.

STALK-CUTTING ATTACHMENT 4FOR, PLOWS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr.. 2, 1918..

application mea March 1o; 1917, srial No. 153,916. Renewed February 1e, 191s. serial No. 217,715.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EARL L. MoUNTJoY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tabor, in the county of Dewitt and State of y Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 'in Stalk-Cutting Attachments for Plows, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

his invention relates to plows and more particularly to plows having thereon a colter or cutting disk for the purpose of cutting up corn stalks or like sta ks as the plow moves across the field.

Plowing under corn stalks for enriching the land is today particularly advocated but a great diiiculty is experienced in trying to plow under corn stalks andas a result farmers usually burn the corn stalks and, therefore destroy their best fertilizer.

For the purpose of cutting corn stalks as the land is plowed, the plow is provided with a plain rolling colter, that is a cutting disk mounted in advance rof the plow, but this colter wheel ordinarily instead of cutting the stalks as it comes to them, does not ride over or out through the stalks but pushes the stalks ahead of it so that gradually a dozen or more stalks accumulate in front oflthe cutting wheel, and then when the pressure becomes great enough so that the stalkscanl not be pushed farther, the colter rides over them, and such is the support afforded by the corn stalks that a ton plow will be raised completely out of the ground by the colter riding over the stalks. A rolling colter will easlly cut its path through the heaviest of corn stalks, if the stalks do not accumulate in bundles but are held down upon the ground. (If, however, a bundle of a dozen or more stalks collect in front of thecolter, the colter will not cut through thel stalks but willl ridev over the stalks leaving them to collect on the beam of the following plow, causing delay. As av result, the stalks are deposited in piles on the top of the ground and becomea hindrance 4instead of a benefit 'to the farmer. These stalks are particularly hard to cut if damp.

The object of my invention 1s to provide means whereby, the stalks may be held down upon' the ground while theA cutter or colter is passing over 'them so that the stalks willnot move forward in advance of the cutting disk and so that the colter will cut .each

" that it is provided stalk, one by one, thus preventing the gathering of the stalks in front of the colter and in front of the plow.

A further object 0f my invention is to provide an attach-ment for plows including a colter support and resilient rods mounted upon the vcolter 'support in advance of the colter and extending downward and rear ward on each side of the colter so as to ride over the stalks resiliently, pressing them against the ground and holding their as the colter cuts through them.

further object is to provide means whereby, the degree of pressure exerted by the resilientl rods may be controlled.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a low with my attachment applied thereto, t e attachment being partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the construction illustrated 1n Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the foot 22 of the bracket.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates the plow beam and 11 a plow of any usual or ordinary construction mountedupon the plow beam. Disposed in front of the plow is a colter or cuttin disk 12 having a sharp cutting edge an mounted in bifurcated arms 13 extending from a body 14. This body has a vertically extending passage for the stem 15. This stem 15 is cranked and the upper end of the stem is formed with a many sided head 11 and this stem is adapted to be attached to the beam of the plow by -means of an ordinary clamp 16 as usual. 4

The colter-wheel 12, the forked'arms, and body 13 and 14, and the stem 15 have all been used heretofore, but the body 14 differs from the construction ordinarily found in upon its forward face with a medially disposed rounded protuberance 17. Disposed `against the front face of the body 14 is a bracket 18 having a base 19 formed intermediate its upper and lower ends with a slight .concave recess 20 which is adapted to fit against the protuberance 17. Cap screws 21 are disposed in the upper and lower ends of the base 19 and extend into the body 14. The bracket V18 has-at its forward extremity the upwardly and forwardly extending widened portion 22 vwhich may be termed the .foot of the bracket, this foot upon its outer face being formed with longitudinally extending grooves for engagement with the upper ends of a pair of downwardly and rearwardly extending presser rods 28 and 29. The two in the foot 27 by means of rivets, or other suitable devices. The illustration shows my device applied to a right hand plow, that is a plow throwing the dirt to the right, and that the right hand presser rod 29 is somewhat longer than the left hand rod 28. The rods are curved upward at theirrear ends to allow a reverse movement of the plow when the device is used on tractor drawn plows.

These spring presser rods 28 and 29 exert a constant pressure downward againstthe -surface of the ground and thereby hold the trash, stalks, and any loose object firmly to the ground, while the cutter wheel cuts through the object. The rods hold the stalks down until they are almost turned under by the mold board of the plow and the rod 28 should extend back about 9" from the mold board.

It will be Aseen that in actual practice yas the plow moves forward, these twin trash rods will ride over the surface of the ground and over the stalks and hold them firmly down, while the cutting disk 12 or colter wheel is cutting the stalks, and the rods continue to exert pressure upon the stalks until the stalks are almost turned under by the action of the plow. The rods may be made to exert a greater or less pressure upon the ground by adjusting the cap screws 21. Thus, for instance, if the lower cap screw is turned inward and the upper cap screw outward, the base""19 will be inclined to the vertical, and a greater pressure will be exerted by the rods. By Vreversing the position of the screws, a less pressure may be exerted by the rods.

While I have illustrated certain details of construction which I believe to be particularly effective in practice, and which make for cheapness in construction, yet l do not wish to be limited to these details as it is obvious that these may beflled in many ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. j

Having described my invention, what l[ claim is:

1. The combination with a plow beam, of a cutting wheel operatively supported thereon, a resilient rod operatively supported on lation to the the beam and having its forwardend disposed forward of the cutting wheel, said rod then extending downward and rearward and bearing against the ground, means whereby the cutting wheel may be vertically adjusted, and means for controlling.y the degree of pressure of the rod upon the ground,

independent of the vertical adjustment of v trol the angle of the downwardly `and rearward extending portion of the rod with reound. 3. The com ination with aplow beam, of a member operatively engaged with v the plow beam and having rearwardly extendmg arms, a cutting wheel mounted upon said arms, said member having a forwardly extending arm, and a pair of resilient downwardly and rearwardly curved rods mounted upon the forwardly extending arm andextending rearward beyond the cutting wheel on each side thereof.

4. The combination with a plow beam, of a downwardly extending spindle operatively connected to the beam, a member through which said spindle passes and having rearwardly extending arms, a cutting wheel rotatably mounted betWeenSaidarmS, said member ha a forwardly extending arm, and a pair o transversely flat resilient rods attached to said forwardly extending rod, said rods extending downward and rearward on each side of the cutting wheel and upwardly turned at their rear ends.

5. The combination with a `plow beam, of a cranked spindle attached to the beam and extending downward therefrom, a member through which said spindle passes having rearwardly extending arms, a cutting disk mounted on the member, a supporting la stem attached to the plow beam, a body v through which the stem passes having rearwardly extending arms, a cutting wheel mounted on said arms, the opposite face of the body being formed with a Inedially disposed rounded protubera-nce, a forwardly extending bracket having its base formed 5 with a relatively shallow transverse curved seat to receive said protuberance, screws passing through the upper and lower ends of the bracket and into said body, and downwardly and rearwardly extending presser 1o rods mounted upon the extremities of the bracket, said rods being resilient and having their rear portions extending horizon tally on each side of the cutting wheel. 7 An attachment for plows comprising a 15 body portion having a stem adapted to be EARL L. MOUNTJOY.y

Witnesses CALVIN GAMBREL, ANDREW RoULsToN. 

